Friday, April 13, 2012

building a roof garden

OK, so you may know about my thing for recycling old boxes. And you may know about the kids' Sylvanian Families. Well one of Becky's buildings is Berry Grove School, where all good Sylvanian children go (see cute little website picture on left).

For the longest time I kept eyeing that little triangular platform at the top, where the clock and schoolbell are (that is a working clock people, no kidding), wondering how I could make use of it to build an extra floor (trust me, the way those critters are, they're always needing more space) (I meant the Sylvanians) (I think).Now the bell is attached to the clock and the whole piece is slotted through that triangular platform. It's not actually triangular though; it's really a trapezium, so I knew fitting a cardboard box there, with the clock piece going through it, might be a little tricky. Also, the scalloped edges of the school walls only offered a tiny ledge of about 2mm -- still, I felt it was something.

Well, after considering it every now and then over several days and weeks, and what with those critters murmurin' and complainin' about how they don't have enough space to sleep, I finally decided to give it a shot.

This shows the thing sitting on my sewing machine, drying. I managed to make slots for the clock piece to go through.

This shows the thing with some furniture in place. Some of what was previously the nursery was moved here, so that the old nursery is now a bedroom.

This shows the thing mounted on top of the school. I had to build a pillar in the bedroom below to support the weight.

And this shows everyone enjoying it. Yay for recycling! Have a super lovely Friday :)

Awesome! this made me so happy to look at...these kinds of projects are the best in the long run and most satisfying to mom! well done! i will get a note off to you today, as I would love to be in touch. xo!

How wonderful, Janice...you did a fabulous job! And it looks like the Sylvanians really like their new room, too---the view must be really nice from there.

This reminds me so much of my daughter's childhood. I bought a little mouse (with a couple of squirrel friends) about the size of the Sylvanians at a yard sale and Ariel told me right away that they were demanding a house because "they were too cold sitting on the shelf." So we made a house from a box and had a wonderful time furnishing it a bit at the time. That box-house is one of the few things Ariel kept from her childhood.

About Me

I'm a Mom who writes, draws and makes things. I'm also a person who's seeking to transform my mind, renew my spirit, and grow daily in my walk with God. This is a little journal of my thoughts, doings, loves and inspirations. All of my work herein (content, photos, art & craftwork, etc) is protected by copyright, thank you :) Come visit me at my bikbikandroro shop on ETSY, bikbikandroro on FLICKR, or email me at bikbik.roro@gmail.com.